Sunday, January 02, 2011

sauna now

we have a usable sauna. we first used it dec 17 at 3 pm. i was just finishing the benches when the heater arrived by FedEx that morning. the driver came out with the box of sauna rocks, and mentioned something about the small box being pretty heavy. i told him, it's a box of rocks. he was amused. i am a bit tardy in posting here about it. i've been lazy, and slumming over at Facebook.

when i googled "sauna heater" one of the distributors listed for the brand we liked (Tylo) was Almost Heaven and their website had the lowest price i could find. so i phoned Almost Heaven (does AT&T go even further, to heaven itself?) and spoke with the wonderful Art Glick there. in the course of our conversations and emails, we learned that art is, aside from charming and competent, a fan of the beats ...you know, kerouac and those guys... and a deadhead. the bums stumbled into the right place.

the sauna room still wants a bit of trim and a finish floor, but we have light and heat and comfy benches to lie on and a way to have music. the outside of the building is still bare plywood. the seams are sealed with roof cement. we will finish the exterior with cedar shingles. later. the anteroom has insulation installed, but there is nothing but plastic film covering it. we moved martha's bench from the pond to the anteroom.

we had enough redwood from our previous saunas to do some of the interior walls so i used cedar up to 3 feet and our antique, sweat-stained redwood from there up. we lean back on very familiar walls.

the cedar we get is six foot dogeared rough cut fence boards, five eighths of an inch thick. i don't even want to ask what finished cedar or redwood boards would cost. my ancient belsaw planer (almost 50 years old) smooths one side of the fence boards nicely and then i rout the edges to make a simple overlap joint. i'm going to try to make a tongue and groove joint for the floors.

power tools. the thing atop the sawhorses is a router table. on its right, with the gaudily colored motor underneath, is the belsaw planer. barely discernible behind the router table is a tablesaw.

we bought enough cedar to do the sauna interior, along with the framing and plywood for walls and subfloor, back before the rain began so it was all nicely dry and ready for planing and edging. while the newest batch of cedar was seasoned when sawn, it has gotten soaked by being stored outdoors at the lumberyard, hence the carefully stickered stack of wood in our den.

BONUS

a short slide show

health update…………………

i'm doing well enough with chemo. absent-minded in a new way, along with a sort of puffy brain sensation, but no overt physical symptoms. three more two week courses of chemo with a week off between each course. i hope i'm a reverse algernon.

21 comments:

It looks terrific and I have to admit that I'm a bit envious!! I'm soooo happy for you both! Hope the new year is filled with all the good things, lots of love and laughter and successful treatment! Hugs to you both!

I love woodworkers! It looks fantastic. After using several saunas over the holidays-one at the Kabuki and one up here, at Sweetwater, we can't wait to have our own soon! They don't get hot enough, for one thing!Enjoy the beneficial fruits of your labor, you guys.

I'm more than a bit envious...but very happy you all have such a great sauna. I'd like to have your skills, Roger, for at least awhile...long enough to build something equally spectacular. Would you mind letting me borrow them for awhile?

I had no idea you had been sick. Congratulations on your recovery, you sound and look marvelous. I had my own bout with cancer in 2009. A tumor was detected in my right lung and I had to have the lobe removed. I followed it up with chemo and radiation. Chemo was hell, but the radiation (35 sessions) kicked me to the curb and spat on me for good measure.

I am so relieved to hear you doing so well. And may you stay on the road to health and recovery. Peace be with you.